Formation mechanism of superconducting phase and its three-dimensional architecture in pseudo-single-crystal KxFe2-ySe2

Liu, Yong; Xing, Qingfeng; Straszheim, Warren E.; Marshman, Jeff; Pedersen, Pal; McLaughlin, Richard; Lograsso, Thomas A.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.93.064509

Title: Formation mechanism of superconducting phase and its three-dimensional architecture in pseudo-single-crystal K_xFe_2-ySe₂

Journal Article · Thu Feb 11 00:00:00 EST 2016 · Physical Review B

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.064509· OSTI ID:1249341

Liu, Yong ^[1]; Xing, Qingfeng ^[1]; Straszheim, Warren E. ^[2]; Marshman, Jeff ^[3]; Pedersen, Pal ^[4]; McLaughlin, Richard ^[5]; Lograsso, Thomas A. ^[2]

Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States)
Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States); Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States)
Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC, Peabody, MA (United States). Ion Microscopy Innovation Center (IMIC)
Carl Zeiss Microscopy, LLC, Thornwood, NY (United States)
Oxford Instruments America, Inc., Concord, MA (United States)

Here, we report how the superconducting phase forms in pseudo-single-crystal K_xFe_2-ySe₂. In situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation reveals that, as an order-disorder transition occurs, on cooling, most of the high-temperature iron-vacancy-disordered phase gradually changes into the iron-vacancy-ordered phase whereas a small quantity of the high-temperature phase retains its structure and aggregates to the stripes with more iron concentration but less potassium concentration compared to the iron-vacancy-ordered phase. The stripes that are generally recognized as the superconducting phase are actually formed as a remnant of the high-temperature phase with a compositional change after an “imperfect” order-disorder transition. It should be emphasized that the phase separation in pseudo-single-crystal K_xFe_2-ySe₂ is caused by the iron-vacancy order-disorder transition. The shrinkage of the high-temperature phase and the expansion of the newly created iron-vacancy-ordered phase during the phase separation rule out the mechanism of spinodal decomposition proposed in an early report [Wang et al, Phys. Rev. B 91, 064513 (2015)]. Since the formation of the superconducting phase relies on the occurrence of the iron-vacancy order-disorder transition, it is impossible to synthesize a pure superconducting phase by a conventional solid state reaction or melt growth. By focused ion beam-scanning electron microscopy, we further demonstrate that the superconducting phase forms a contiguous three-dimensional architecture composed of parallelepipeds that have a coherent orientation relationship with the iron-vacancy-ordered phase.

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Research Organization:: Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-07CH11358

OSTI ID:: 1249341

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1237792

Report Number(s):: IS-J-8950; PRBMDO

Journal Information:: Physical Review B, Vol. 93, Issue 6; ISSN 2469-9950

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 16 works

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Nanoscale electrodynamics of strongly correlated quantum materials Liu, Mengkun; Sternbach, Aaron J.; Basov, D. N. Reports on Progress in Physics, Vol. 80, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1088/0034-4885/80/1/014501	journal	November 2016
Imaging the local electronic and magnetic properties of intrinsically phase separated Rb _x Fe _{2– y} Se ₂ superconductor using scanning microscopy techniques Dudin, P.; Herriott, D.; Davies, T. Superconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 32, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6668/aaffa8	journal	February 2019

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Title: Formation mechanism of superconducting phase and its three-dimensional architecture in pseudo-single-crystal K_xFe_2-ySe₂